400 CLPs and counting
On Friday 15 September, Milngavie and Clydebank CLP became the 400th Constituency Labour Party to pass a motion calling for Proportional Representation for the House of Commons.
Our formidable campaigner Julie Ward – well known to many members during her days as an MEP for the North West – travelled up from Carlisle for the meeting, and we are sure that her passion and persuasiveness helped to secure the right result.
“I never get tired of talking to Labour members about how we can improve our electoral system so that every vote counts. PR is about fairness and democracy, the same values which drive the politics of nearly all Labour members. There’s now a shared understanding that a fair voting system is the only way to ensure that the reforms made by a Labour government will be sustainable, and not smashed up a few years later by a Tory government with a huge unearned majority.
I enjoyed my trip north of the border to spend an evening with Clydebank and Milngavie CLP, who were very well informed about PR but still had questions to ask. We enjoyed a wide-ranging discussion. The motion for PR was passed unanimously – I left on a real high and treated myself to a Scottish fish and chip supper with mushy peas!
We need to speak to more CLPs and branches. With the constituency boundaries redrawn, we’re asking CLPs to return to the debate on PR – members need to be updated on developments in the campaign, and we need the new CLPs to pass resolutions on PR to demonstrate that they are still absolutely committed to the issue.
To book a speaker from LCER/L4ND for your CLP or branch, fill in our online form.
We need more speakers. It’s great that Julie was able to travel to Glasgow, but she had to make the journey because our Scots speakers were all otherwise engaged. With most CLPs having returned to in-person meetings, we need to ensure we have speakers available from all corners of the country. You don’t need to have an illustrious history in the labour movement, or an encyclopaedic grasp of electoral statistics.
Drop us a line if you would like to participate in our speaker training programme.
lcer@labourcampaignforelectoralreform.org.uk
